Question: GO BIG OR GO HOME?

This cannot be real, right?

 

Question: Go Big or Go Home?

Answer: NO!

Go as big as you can, safely and with proper form, then come back tomorrow and do it again. 

Whether at Globogym or your crazy brother-in-law’s garage, “go big or go home” is a mantra I have heard over and over in gyms. It’s written in bold letters on the chalk board and yelled by trainers and training buddies alike. Today I hope to shed some light and transform your thoughts on this archaic training ideology.

It is human nature to believe that more is better. More weight = stronger; run farther = more endurance. This simply isn’t the answer. Actually, more often than not, these exact principles lead to us further from goals. This “go big or go home” philosophy can often lead to injury, and injury is the kryptonite to our success in the gym.

Now, don’t let this talk of injury keep you from pushing yourself in every facet of every workout, every day. That is not my intention. I only desire safety while pushing your body to whatever limit it has that day. None of us can afford to get hurt. Our jobs, kids, and hobbies won’t allow it. So when someone tells me that they cannot workout or cannot perform certain tasks because they can’t get hurt, I always laugh (Of course, I laugh at all of your excuses).  I know you can’t get hurt, and you won’t if you perform the exercise correctly.

The bio mechanics of each movement is ultimately what challenges our bodies with different exercises. In other words, the actual movement of your body is, and always will be, the most important part of what you are doing! 

Leave the performance-based mindset behind (i.e. how many sets did I do, or how much weight did I perform), and start thinking along the lines of “was my form correct on every rep” or “was I able to maintain my intensity without losing my technique.”  My #1 Rule of Fitness has always been “It just has to be hard.”  If the things you are doing are not challenging your body, you will never change your body. “Without Change there is no Challenge, without Challenge there is no Change”.

So, the next time someone tells you to Go Big or Go Home, politely say “No thanks, I’ll do it correctly as I can and with as much intensity as I can.” Remember, no one workout is ever worth of week of bed rest.

Do you suffer from the “go big or go home” mentality?  What’s the craziest workout mantra you’ve been talked into?  Does your crazy brother-in-law have a gym in his garage? (No offense, David.)

 

 

BE SAFE,

WORK HARD,

REPEAT!

 

God Bless,

Shane